


Decorating Beauty

by mirrortailtrash



Category: Life of the Party D&D (Web Series)
Genre: Astra is a pretty thing, Bathing/Washing, Cassian likes to decorate pretty things, First Time, Getting Ready For The Ball, Hand Jobs, M/M, OMG they were roommates!!!, bathtub handjobs, during episode 32, takes place just before the shadebourne ball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:08:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23376655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirrortailtrash/pseuds/mirrortailtrash
Summary: Cassian wants to help Astra get ready for the Shadebourne ball, so he draws him a bath. Beauty deserves to be tended to...(rated M for some sexual content, nothing explicit!!)
Relationships: Cassian/Astra, Cassian/Astra (Life of the Party)
Kudos: 10





	Decorating Beauty

**Author's Note:**

> I watched episode 32 and Cassian doing makeup on Astra really got me thinking! Cassian and Astra are hot together... I had to. Maybe will write more if anyone likes it, I know its not the main ship.

Solid golden eyes darted across the scene they’d set upon, drinking in the sights and smells that swamped his senses. Candles flickered lazy shadows across the pristine walls of the Zauviir’s bathroom, steam from the freshly drawn bath swirling through the air before him. The water was a beautiful milky colour, mixed with some sort of oils and atop it pink petals floated like lily pads, a rich, ambrosial scent filling the room. On one of the surfaces, three small, beautiful bottles sat on a ceremoniously shiny metal tray, with neatly rolled linens and towels laid beside them. It was quiet as though the whole world outside had stilled, and Astra was reminded of the bathhouse back in Sanskra, albeit far more private and luxurious.

Behind the bath, perched on a stool with one leg tucked over the other and his arms folded across his chest, Cassian watched him carefully.

“What’s this..?” Astra asked, hovering in the doorway. He’d followed a note from Cassian left in their shared room.

“Close that door quickly before you let the heat out. The bath will run cold.”

Astra did as he was instructed, a strange tightness forming in his throat as he did so. The last distant sounds of the city were shut out as he closed the washroom door behind him. It was already getting late - the others had gone to sleep and the two of them were very much alone.

He continued to shuffle on the spot, looking from Cassian to the bath unsurely. It smelled wonderful, a luxury he’d never experienced before, and Astra was always open to luxury. He loved to witness it, and even more so to be subject to it. It was so different to everything he’d experienced in his life until that point.

Cassian was making him nervous and he didn’t know why. An innocent smile flickered over his face as he stuttered out a stupid question he already knew he didn’t need to ask.

“Sorry, if you were using the washroom. Do you want me to go?”

The elf’s eyes remained fixed on him. Astra held his smile the best he could and wondered why his heart was hammering a little hard in his chest.

“This is for you.” Cassian stood abruptly, dipping a finger into the bathwater. “If we are to go to a masquerade ball hosted by a lord, then it is in our best interests that we look presentable.”

Cassian stated more than he suggested, and though the insinuation in his words that Astra didn’t always look presentable threatened to sting his self-esteem, the tiefling let himself get a little excited that the beautifully drawn bath was for him. He was really looking forward to the ball, and to the dancing. He’d delighted in watching the others learn and he couldn’t wait to try it himself at last...it was the bit of the night he was most looking forward to.

“Oh! In that case, well, thank you.” His smile widened a little. The scent of the milky water was heady and tempting, and Astra couldn’t wait to submerge himself in it. The Zauviirs’ home was a luxury like he’d never experienced.

Neither of them moved. Cassian didn’t drop his gaze, but Astra glanced from the bath to the closed door, waiting for the other man to leave. He didn’t. He didn’t need to say anything either. The answer was in his eyes. Astra raised a hand to fumble with one of the buttons on his shirt and caught a small nod of approval from Cassian. Finally looking away, the elf busied himself with the crystal bottles on the side, the clinking of glass on metal breaking the swollen silence in the room.

Stripping in front of someone wasn’t a problem for Astra. It wasn’t something he made a habit of, but Astra felt no shame in his body, and he peeled off his overcoat and unbuttoned his shirt deftly, folding each item neatly before moving onto the next. If he hesitated for a moment before dropping his breeches, it was surely for Cassian’s sake.

He cleared his throat. 

“Are you doing this for everybody?”

Cassian didn’t look up from what he was doing as he responded. “No.” A slight pause. “The water is a good temperature.”

Nodding curtly, Astra moved over to the copper tub. It stood alone in the middle of the washroom, a small space with simple cream plaster and one grated window. He had thought it quite unsightly when they’d first moved into the barracks, but not so much now. The candlelight and the smell of the bathwater changed the room, almost as though they were somewhere else entirely.

He climbed in as carefully as he could, a little of the opaque water spilling over the side onto the tiled floor as he settled into the tub. It was hot enough to make him sweat. The flower petals lapped at his chest and the fragrance of the oils was almost too much to breath in, flooding his senses until he felt as heady as the air itself.

“Wet your hair.” 

Astra again followed the instruction, sinking deeper into the water until he was entirely submerged, eyes closing as he slipped under the surface. The world became muted and soft, his thoughts amplified.

Cassian was just outside the tub. Probably still watching.

It wasn’t uncomfortable, but Astra could feel his cheeks heating up and it wasn’t the water.

He surfaced again with a deep gasp for breath that wasn’t particularly because of the water either. Glancing around the room, he couldn’t see Cassian anywhere. Perhaps the elf had left him to his own devices to enjoy the bath after all?

Closing his eyes, he relaxed back into the water, settling with his head hanging just over the edge of the copper tub. This was nice. Not what he’d found himself expecting, but…nice. 

Fingers brushed his head. Astra’s eyes shot open again, neck twisting so he could see.

“Relax,” Cassian purred. “I thought I’d wash your hair for you. You have so much of it.”

The tailor’s deft hands began to work at his scalp in soothing circles that made all the hairs on Astra’s body stand to attention. A chill ran down his spine and Astra knew his face was about to flush, if it hadn’t already tinged purple.

“Is this okay?”

“Y-yes.” It was more than okay. No one had played with Astra’s hair in a long time. “Definitely.”

“Good. Beauty deserves to be tended to.”

Now the tips of his ears were burning too. His tail flicked at the end of the bath, splashing the water quietly.

Cassian continued his ministrations, his talented hands moving across Astra’s scalp as though they knew the map of it by heart. He paused only to move to the counter and uncap one of the beautiful bottles, pouring an ooze of some sweet scented oil onto his fingers. “To make it shine.”

Returning to the massage, Cassian moved at last away from Astra’s head and further down the length of his hair. He trailed his fingers down the length of it, parting it ever so gently around his shoulders. 

Astra simply smiled. His eyes had fallen closed again but he opened them now, staring up at Cassian to find him lost in his task. His lips hung open slightly and he was running his tongue across his teeth idly.

“There’s so much of it,” the elf remarked under his breath.

“I haven’t cut it for years. Sorry if it’s a bother.”   
  
“Not at all. Quite the opposite.”

Working the length of it took quite some time. Astra shifted around in the bath to give Cassian room to run the oil through his hair without getting wet. Once his hair was oiled from root to tip, returned to his scalp, massaging it with both hands.

_ O-oh.  _ It felt good. Astra wasn’t sure if it was the warm water or the lingering aroma but he was starting to feel dizzy and the feeling of fingers teasing at his head was almost too much. Sharp teeth bit onto his lower lip, trying to hold his tongue.

A useless endeavor. Cassian’s fingers danced across his shoulders, tight with stress, and Astra couldn’t help the groan of pleasure that rumbled from his throat.

He was very suddenly aware of his body responding to the touch. Golden eyes opened nervously, looking up at Cassian once more, seeking answers to a question he wasn’t sure of.

The smile on the elf’s lips caught him off-guard. Not contented, but not wicked, instead altogether just… satisfied. With what? Cassian worked Astra’s tense shoulders again and unprepared to bite back his response., a loud, needy sound spilled from his lips. 

Immediately he flushed blue, his face burning to the tips of his ears.

“Sorry,” Astra stuttered, dropping his gaze to the bathwater. “That just- it felt really good, is all.”

Hot breath tickled his cheek as Cassian leaned in. “There is nothing at all to be sorry about.”

Astra’s heart thudded heavily in his chest as he felt Cassian’s lips ghost across the shell of his ear, a caress almost too soft to believe was real. Then his teeth. The sensation sent a shiver so violently down his spine Astra arched his back and whimpered.

In a heartbeat, Cassian was gone and back to the oils on the side.

“We should rinse it out before the oils leave a residue,” Cassian stated. Astra vaguely registered the sound running water filling a bowl, but it was hard to think further than the burning in his veins and how much hotter the bath suddenly felt. He sunk further down the tub until his shoulders were completely submerged and far away from where Cassian could use his devilish hands. 

Cassian rounded the tub until Astra couldn’t avoid seeing him, raising a manicured eyebrow. “I can’t wash it if you’re sitting like that. Sit up.”

He sat. Right in the middle of the bath, his hair fanned out in the water about him, and tried to stay calm as Cassian began to gently pour warm, clean water from the bowl over his head.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are, Verdant Astra?” The elf spoke it again as a statement, emotionless and factual. Yet Astra’s heart stuttered all the same. He hadn’t felt this flustered since Aerenthias’ relentlessly teasing - he didn’t get like this. What was wrong with him?

“Thank.. Thank you Cassian.”

“Close your eyes.”

He did so as another cascade of water poured over his head, deft fingers returning to his hair and making quick, skilled work of his locks.

“You are beautiful even without decoration, but I think perhaps that for a ball, you should deserve to feel as exquisite as you look.”

“Is the outfit I chose okay, do you think?” Astra asked, eyes still squeezed shut. “I’ve never been to an event like this. I didn’t really know what to choose.”

“It can be improved.”

“Oh. Do you think- would you help me?”

“Certainly.” Cassian’s hands traced over his back, as they moved through the length of his hair, tracing the lightest of touches over his spine. If Astra gasped again, neither of them addressed it. “I was thinking a little eyeliner… Some jewels.”

The elf’s hands dipped into the water to fish out more of the endless length of Astra’s hair. His knuckles brushed Astra’s thigh, and the tiefling jumped slightly, teeth sinking into his lip. His body was too sensitive, too on edge, too  _ wanting _ -

It took a moment for Astra to realise Cassian’s hand was still trailing along his thigh, very much on purpose. His eyes shot open to find the elf close to his face, so close their breath was mingling in the steam still rolling off the water in the bath. 

“Cassian..?” he asked, his voice catching in his throat.

“I told you beauty deserves to be tended to.”

Cassian’s lips found Astra’s before he could respond, ghosting across them. Astra didn’t hesitate to surge forward and claim Cassian’s mouth, his body moving instinctively to take what he didn’t know he wanted so badly. 

The position was awkward, Cassian ending up on his knees on the damp floor behind the tub, one arm still elbow deep in the milky water, the other tangling in Astra’s wet hair and pulling him closer into the kiss. More water slopped out of the tub onto the tiles as they pressed against each other the best they could. Astra parted his lips and let Cassian deepen the kiss, helpless to anything but letting the elf lead him over the edge.

Under the water, Cassian’s hand wrapped around him. Astra gasped into the kiss, heart thundering, both hands shooting up to grip the edges of the copper tub tightly. Cassian’s name spilled from his mouth as the elf pulled back and dipped to kiss his neck instead, unrelentingly, and it was all he could do to hold on and give himself over to the sensations.

Gods, Cassian was good at this. Better than Astra was even touching himself, at night in his bedroll as he shamefully thought of his beautiful companions. His hands trembled, vision getting hazy as he stared up at the ceiling. Every press of Cassian’s lips to his neck felt like fire. The motion of his hands over Astra’s body was intoxicating. A string of Infernal fell from Astra’s mouth unwillingly and he felt the elf chuckling against his neck.

Cassian’s next words came in the same language. “Such a pretty little thing and such a filthy language. I like it. I wonder what else I might get you saying?”

Astra snapped his jaw shut, eyebrows furrowing in frustration, but it was impossible to get angry with the language when Cassian’s hand was pulling harder at his hair, encouraging him to tip his head and expose his throat. 

The tiefling wasn’t going to last long. His hips rocked into Cassian’s touch with increasing desperation and reached out to grab at anything his hands could find, balling into fists on the fabric of Cassian’s robe. 

“ _ Please _ ,” he stammered. “Cassian, please.”

He felt the elf smirk against his skin. “In Infernal.”

Astra was sure his whole face had to be purple by now. He repeated himself in Infernal all the same, and felt Cassian’s lips against his ear once more.

“Good boy.” 

Those words, the purr of Cassian’s voice right in his ear, it was all Astra needed to tip him over the edge. He pulled the elf so close as he trembled that he almost dragged him into the bath, but Astra couldn’t help it. It was as though someone had lit a spark inside him and it had just exploded into a forest fire.

As he came tumbling over the edge, Cassian pressed kisses into his hair, gently, silently, before resting his forehead against Astra’s and waiting for him to catch his breath.

“Cassian,” Astra breathed when he finally could. “What-”

“Doesn’t that feel better?” Leaning back again, Cassian winked at him and trailed his fingers through Astra’s wet locks. “Perhaps now I can finish your hair with you sitting still.”

They sat in silence as Cassian started rinsing his hair over with another bowl of warm water. This time he pulled the length of it from the tub onto the tiles and made sure to wash it thoroughly. Astra relaxed properly into the water and let it happen without another sound. Part of him wanted to ask, what did this mean? Did it mean anything at all? But asking would break the atmosphere and he felt like he’d get an answer he didn’t want if he spoke up.

Cassian was completely professional as he finished up. The last thing he did was run another, sweeter scented oil through the tips of Astra’s hair, and then with a hand motion and a spark of magic, it was dry.

“You should get out of the bath now, I’m sure it’s going cold.”

“Right.” It was a little. “Of course.”

Climbing out of the water this time was more unnerving than it had been climbing in. He expected Cassian to look him up and down, but instead the elf just waited, and handed him a towel. Astra wrapped up quickly, and then turned his attention to his hair, running his fingers through it and marvelling at the softness. 

“Here.” Cassian produced a mirror for him from the side. “You deserve to see.”

Astra looked himself over in his reflection and gasped. His hair was falling about his shoulders in pretty waves, softer than it ever had done. “I look... Wow, Cassian, I don’t know what to say.”

“You look exquisite. I told you before that is what I was doing, and it’s as simple as that.”   
  
Astra met Cassian’s eyes and saw something in them. In a moment Cassian had put the mirror down and crowded him against the bathroom wall, barely a breath’s space between their lips.

“Perhaps it’s not that simple,” he murmured, tilting Astra’s head down with a thumb on his jaw. “You are more than exquisite. I simply see beauty and want to decorate the beauty that I see, so that everyone else sees it too. I think- no, I know - that you will be the belle of the ball.”

Astra could feel Cassian’s breath on his skin and another spark of excitement ran through him as it had in the bath. “I...I appreciate that, Cass-”

Cassian silenced him with a kiss. It was little more than a short press of lips to his own, making a statement, making a point that Astra needed to be quiet. As Cassian pulled away it left him breathless. 

“And then after the ball, I will be undoing it all over again.” Cassian stepped away from him and finally looked him up and down. Astra knew he had to be flustered. “That is a promise.”

The henna-covered elf threw a wink at him and turned on his heel. Astra watched him go. He knew he was gaping after him, but there was nothing else he could do. 

Oh, he thought. Perhaps the dancing at the ball wouldn’t be the best part of the night after all.


End file.
